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Sunday, May 4, 2014

100 Days in El Salvador

We can hardly believe that we have been here for 100 days.
100 days of life change.
100 days of language change.
100 days of peace... well almost :)
100 days of serving.

There have been a lot of moments of joy. There have been a lot of goose bump moments when I can see the progress and the very exciting, near future when little lives will be welcomed into a space just for them. Little lives that will have security, love, joy, fun, full bellies, Jesus! Tangible Jesus. I cannot wait for the grand opening of the new Child Development house!!!!

Sometimes doubt, like an evil monster creeps in. Its sneaky and quiet, and seeks our destruction.

"What are you doing here?" "Who do you think you are?" "This isn't worth it!" "You say you're serving, but what did you do today?" "Remember your old paycheck? Wasn't that nice?"

In those moments I cling to what I know to be true. Jesus did not choose his first disciples out of any seminary. He didn't pick the most talented, or the best selling authors, or even the best looking. And its no different for Alex and I.

He simply said "Say yes to me. Choose a radical new life. I have things for you to do that I designed for you to do before the earth was even formed. I knew you, and knew that I wanted you to be in this place, to do this thing. My power is in you, to do infinitely more than you can do alone."

Me. He wanted me. He planned for me. But I had to say yes. And I have to keep saying yes. Many times.
So I do. Because I've chosen a radical faith. If it was ordinary it wouldn't be very special would it? It wouldn't be hard. So I breath out the yes, every day. And I breath in purpose.

Some days are hard. We miss our people.

But these little faces are worth it. I'm here for a purpose. There are seriously exciting things coming up. I am so excited to tell you about it in the next few days!
I am easily overwhelmed by the immense need surrounding me. Countless children, the little old lady sitting day in and day out on the curb in town, the homes with aluminum patched together to make walls. Its overwhelming. So I let the Holy Spirit remind me every day to just do the one thing he asks, for today.

Highlights from our first 100 days:

1. Dedicated children's ministry space

2. 6 month supply of Children's vitamins

3. Opportunity to go to Honduras to meet and learn from other churches

4. Incredible partnership with deployed sailors from U.SA. Navy!!!!

5. Deepened friendships and new ones for our children

Donovan's new best friend is 17 years old :)

More about each of these in the days to come.....!!

The next couple of months are going to be very busy with many missions teams arriving that we will be working with, Grand Opening of the new CDI with brand new kids, graduation for Computer Center students and more! Please help cover us in prayer as we enter a very busy season of our time here, and for the people of El Salvador.

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from David Platt:

“If we were left to ourselves with the task of taking the gospel to the world, we would immediately begin planning innovative strategies and plotting elaborate schemes. We would organize conventions, develop programs, and create foundations… But Jesus is so different from us. With the task of taking the gospel to the world, he wandered through the streets and byways…All He wanted was a few men who would think as He did, love as He did, see as He did, teach as He did and serve as He did. All He needed was to revolutionize the hearts of a few, and they would impact the world.” ― David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

If you would like walk this path with us, there is a button up at the top! We are infinitely grateful to our financial supporters and cannot afford to say "Yes" without you. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. We cannot say it enough times. If you already are a supporter, would you consider passing along our information to someone you think would like to join us? Love, The Marks in El Salvador